'Tis the season of (too many) lights

By KATIE BRECKHEIMERECO

Published: Thursday, December 19, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at 2:56 p.m.

My father saved his yelling voice for sports events, but when he walked into a room with no one in it, he yelled loud enough for everyone in the house to hear: “Turn off the lights!” I finally understood what all of the fuss was about when I started paying my own power bills — wasting electricity is expensive.

The Home Energy Report, included in my monthly power bill, compares my house to 2,000 other homes in my area that are similar in square footage, date of construction and source of heating. The graph covers 13 months so I can see how my consumption in November 2012 compares to November 2013.

Behavioral science shows that humans are more likely to change if they compare themselves to others. Duke Energy not only compares us, it throws in a little positive reinforcement if our energy use goes down. My family got a pat on the back last month: “Way to go!” it read. “You’re among the most efficient homes in your area.”

All of the homes compared on my Home Energy Report show a rise in electric use in December. When daylight hours are short and the family is home for the holidays, we use more heat, take more showers, do more cooking and need more lights, including the Christmas tree.

I enjoy a good display of Christmas lights, but I think some of us have gone overboard with our lighting extravaganzas. There’s competition in the neighborhoods, and the TV eggs us on. ABC’s “Good Morning America” stages yearly contests with names such as “My Lights Are Better Than Your Lights.”

Rhett Allain, a professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, came up with a formula for calculating how much energy is consumed in the United States for Christmas light displays. He guessed that about 20 million households put up lights, referring to residential lighting. Municipal holiday lighting (funded by tax dollars) is not included in Allain’s figures.

He estimated that the average power per house is 1,000 watts, and the average family runs the lights for four hours a day. The average cost of electricity is 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. And the average household puts up decorations for 30 days.

The total added cost of running our holiday lights nationwide is $233 million (cost to the environment not included).

During the Christmas season of 1880, Thomas Edison hung the first string of connected electric lights outside his laboratory in New Jersey. Railroad passengers traveling by the lab got their first-ever look at an electric Christmas light display. It took another 40 years for the tradition of electric-powered holiday lights to go public.

How many Christmas lights have gone to our landfills over the years? A lot! Admittedly, the broken ones can be very frustrating. It used to take an infinite amount of time to find out which bulb was the culprit. All the while an impatient family waited to decorate the tree with ornaments in hand.

Struggling with the lights is a thankless job, but newer technology is helping. Still, many people opt for buying new lights because they are cheap, and the old ones are easy to toss into the trash can.

Where do the new ones come from? The majority of Christmas lights are made in China because they have a large pool of relatively cheap labor and inexpensive raw materials.

Until recently, there have been few disposal options other than throwing the broken lights away. Now we are able to recycle them locally at the Cooperative Extension Office in Jackson Park, the YouthTheatre of Flat Rock Playhouse, the Flat Rock Playhouse box office, Carolina Day School and St. Gerard House.

Where do they go next for recycling? Most will be sold for about 60 cents a pound, stuffed into shipping containers and transported back to China. Shijiao, China, has at least nine factories that import and process more than 20 million pounds of unwanted lights a year. Workers untangle the lights and toss them into shredders, where they are chopped into millimeter-sized fragments and mixed with water.

Next, they are shoveled onto a large, downward-angled, vibrating table that is covered in a thin sheen of flowing water. As the table shakes, the heavier flecks of copper (from the wire) and brass (from the light bulb sockets) flow in one direction, and the lighter PVC plastic and glass (from the insulation and bulbs) flows in another. It’s the same concept that miners use when panning for gold.

The old method, used to release the copper, was to burn the lights, which proved to be terrible for China’s air quality. Light technology is slowly changing with the conversion to LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs, which consume 80 to 90 percent less electricity and last far longer than incandescent bulbs.

By conserving electricity, we can ease the demand for power and the need for building more power plants. Until we can produce cleaner energy and use more efficient bulbs, let’s try to tone down our holiday light extravaganzas.

Happy holidays from the Environmental and Conservation Organization. We at ECO hope you get a pat on the back in your next electric bill!

Katie Breckheimer is a longtime Environmental and Conservation Organization member and volunteer. Reach her at katiebreckheimer@gmail.com.

<p>My father saved his yelling voice for sports events, but when he walked into a room with no one in it, he yelled loud enough for everyone in the house to hear: “Turn off the lights!” I finally understood what all of the fuss was about when I started paying my own power bills — wasting electricity is expensive.</p><p>The Home Energy Report, included in my monthly power bill, compares my house to 2,000 other homes in my area that are similar in square footage, date of construction and source of heating. The graph covers 13 months so I can see how my consumption in November 2012 compares to November 2013.</p><p>Behavioral science shows that humans are more likely to change if they compare themselves to others. Duke Energy not only compares us, it throws in a little positive reinforcement if our energy use goes down. My family got a pat on the back last month: “Way to go!” it read. “You're among the most efficient homes in your area.”</p><p>All of the homes compared on my Home Energy Report show a rise in electric use in December. When daylight hours are short and the family is home for the holidays, we use more heat, take more showers, do more cooking and need more lights, including the Christmas tree.</p><p>I enjoy a good display of Christmas lights, but I think some of us have gone overboard with our lighting extravaganzas. There's competition in the neighborhoods, and the TV eggs us on. ABC's “Good Morning America” stages yearly contests with names such as “My Lights Are Better Than Your Lights.”</p><p>Rhett Allain, a professor at Southeastern Louisiana University, came up with a formula for calculating how much energy is consumed in the United States for Christmas light displays. He guessed that about 20 million households put up lights, referring to residential lighting. Municipal holiday lighting (funded by tax dollars) is not included in Allain's figures.</p><p>He estimated that the average power per house is 1,000 watts, and the average family runs the lights for four hours a day. The average cost of electricity is 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. And the average household puts up decorations for 30 days.</p><p>The total added cost of running our holiday lights nationwide is $233 million (cost to the environment not included).</p><p>During the Christmas season of 1880, Thomas Edison hung the first string of connected electric lights outside his laboratory in New Jersey. Railroad passengers traveling by the lab got their first-ever look at an electric Christmas light display. It took another 40 years for the tradition of electric-powered holiday lights to go public.</p><p>How many Christmas lights have gone to our landfills over the years? A lot! Admittedly, the broken ones can be very frustrating. It used to take an infinite amount of time to find out which bulb was the culprit. All the while an impatient family waited to decorate the tree with ornaments in hand.</p><p>Struggling with the lights is a thankless job, but newer technology is helping. Still, many people opt for buying new lights because they are cheap, and the old ones are easy to toss into the trash can.</p><p>Where do the new ones come from? The majority of Christmas lights are made in China because they have a large pool of relatively cheap labor and inexpensive raw materials.</p><p>Until recently, there have been few disposal options other than throwing the broken lights away. Now we are able to recycle them locally at the Cooperative Extension Office in Jackson Park, the YouthTheatre of Flat Rock Playhouse, the Flat Rock Playhouse box office, Carolina Day School and St. Gerard House.</p><p>Where do they go next for recycling? Most will be sold for about 60 cents a pound, stuffed into shipping containers and transported back to China. Shijiao, China, has at least nine factories that import and process more than 20 million pounds of unwanted lights a year. Workers untangle the lights and toss them into shredders, where they are chopped into millimeter-sized fragments and mixed with water.</p><p>Next, they are shoveled onto a large, downward-angled, vibrating table that is covered in a thin sheen of flowing water. As the table shakes, the heavier flecks of copper (from the wire) and brass (from the light bulb sockets) flow in one direction, and the lighter PVC plastic and glass (from the insulation and bulbs) flows in another. It's the same concept that miners use when panning for gold.</p><p>The old method, used to release the copper, was to burn the lights, which proved to be terrible for China's air quality. Light technology is slowly changing with the conversion to LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs, which consume 80 to 90 percent less electricity and last far longer than incandescent bulbs.</p><p>By conserving electricity, we can ease the demand for power and the need for building more power plants. Until we can produce cleaner energy and use more efficient bulbs, let's try to tone down our holiday light extravaganzas.</p><p>Happy holidays from the Environmental and Conservation Organization. We at ECO hope you get a pat on the back in your next electric bill!</p><p><i>Katie Breckheimer is a longtime Environmental and Conservation Organization member and volunteer. Reach her at katiebreckheimer@gmail.com.</p>